Much is still unknown about the origin of the psalms. How were they read? What are their origins? Who were their audiences and authors? Not only how were they read but how should they be read?In the 19th Century scholars tried to answer some of these questions and formed various schools. Two diverging approaches can be seen within Judaism itself with the the Carites and Rabbanites.Read more

Gregorian chant is usually divided into eight modes. Each mode is considered suited to conveying something deeper than the words: to quote a Benedictine friend, ‘music is for when words are not enough. There is a mystical mode, an angelic mode, a sad mode, a perfect mode. It should then come as no surprise that the antiphon Gaudens Gaudebo for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is mode V. Joyful, bringing happiness to those in pain. The antiphon is a combination of Isaiah 61:10 and Psalm 30:1-2.Read more

One of the least heard parts of the liturgy is probably the chant of the Proper of the Mass. These are the parts of the Mass which change with the season or the feast and consist in the Collect, Prayer Over the Offerings, and the Post Communion Prayer, and also three scriptural texts; the Introit, Offertory and Communion. These texts are often replaced by hymns, but you may hear them said by the priest at the beginning of the Mass or, in the case of the Communion Antiphon, just before or after the faithful have received Holy Communion. However, you almost certainly won’t have heard them sung to the proper chants appointed by the Church for use in the liturgy. Read more

Many of you will be aware that the Dominican Order has its own tradition of chant, which means many of the popular Marian and other traditional Latin hymns, such as the Salve Regina, are sung differently to the Roman tradition. Read more

Today is the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, which falls on the last Sunday before Advent, i.e., at the end of the liturgical year. At the 6.15pm Mass & Vespers tonight at Blackfriars, Oxford, the Schola Magna will sing Tomás Luis de Victoria's setting of O Quam Gloriosum, whose text is below. Read more

To round off our commentary on the Our Father, we come to the ways it has been set to music. Prayer rightly inspires and nourishes theological reflection, but it's always important to come back to prayer. Singing is an excellent way to pray, because it can give voice to the deepest desires of our hearts, and these will lead us to a greater love of God. As St Augustine says, 'Singing is a lover's thing'! Read more